Token
by Pulse of Madness
Summary: Naruto's thoughts on Sasuke after he leaves, and why Sasuke is so important to him. I intended it to be slash, but it came across being more pre-slash, so feel free to take it as friendship. Yes, this is NaruSasu, it's shounen-ai, meaning boy-boy love, so if anybody's offended or uncomfortable, don't read it. For the rest of you, enjoy!


**Meh, because I've been in a funk all the time lately, and I haven't actually written stuff in ages (and when I have, it's crap – I mean, really, what was I **_**thinking, **_**trying to write like Neil Gaiman), so I'm doing something that I hope's gonna pull me outta my funk and get me going uphill. Hello, random word generator! :D**

**Title: Token**

**Pairing: NaruSasu**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. All characters, everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and co. **

**Let's get this party started!**

**Token: Something that serves as a visible or tangible representation of something abstract**

Ever since his and Sasuke's battle at the Valley of the End, Naruto has always kept Sasuke's hitai-ate with him. When he sleeps, it's always on his bedside table, right next to the team picture of him, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi. During the day, he keeps it in his ninja pack, separated from his kunais and shurikens and senbons, and when he trains, he always feels reassured when it brushes against his fingers as he reaches inside for a kunai. In the rare instances where he doesn't train and takes the day off, it's always inside his pocket, right next to Gama-chan.

The point is, it's always with him, and Naruto would rather die than lose that hitai-ate.

_Actually, he has mixed feelings about that statement, because that's Sasuke's hitai-ate, but he doesn't wanna die, even though losing it would be the equivalent of death, because how's he going to bring Sasuke back home _back to him _if he's dead? _

Sometimes, when Naruto's alone in a clearing in the outskirts of Konoha, training hard as usual, he sees Sasuke smirking at him from the corner of his eye when his Rasengan misses, he hears Sasuke call him an idiot when his kunai doesn't hit its mark, he feels Sasuke brush past him, feels the fleeting caress of his hand against his arm.

_They are one and the same. Regardless of how far they are from each other, they can never get away. _

On occasion, when everything is at a stalemate and he isn't making progress or when there isn't a lead to be found or when Tsunade stubbornly refuses to let him go look for Sasuke and bring him back home _because this is Sasuke, Sasuke belongs here, Sasuke needs to be here, Sasuke needs to come home, _Naruto can't help but spiral downdowndown into a pit of despair.

He'd sit on his bed, holding the hitai-ate in his hand, staring at it for hours on end.

_It could have been him. Their situations could have been reversed. _

The hitai-ate is given to ninjas who graduate from Konoha Academy as a Genin, something that marks them as a true, official ninja of Konoha. The hitai-ate is a symbol of their worth. To Naruto, the hitai-ate is a symbol of the promises he and Sasuke made to each other once upon a time, such a long, long time ago.

_They are lying on the grass, head to head, panting hard as sweat drips down their cheeks and noses and off their chin, onto their shirts. The sky above them is beautifully blue, the clouds white and perfect. _

_Sakura is not there, and neither is Kakashi, and neither is the rest of Konoha. It's just them, and they feel so alone, yet so at peace, because they can feel the other's presence, and as the feeling of being so satisfied and happy and incredibly content overwhelms Naruto _because he's not alone anymore, he has found people who accept him for who he is and welcomes him with open arms_, he opens his mouth and says, "Sasuke, you do know that you're my most important person, right?"_

_Sasuke snorts, and says, "Don't be an idiot."_

_Naruto feels relieved that Sasuke doesn't freak out and run off, because where the hell did that come from? He sits up, turning to face Sasuke, blue eyes wide and earnest. "I'm serious!"_

_Sasuke looks up at him, a skeptical look clearly written across his face. "You've got to be joking."_

_Naruto rolls his eyes. "I just said that I was serious. Y'know, for a supposed genius, you're pretty dumb."_

_Sasuke glares half-heartedly at him, arms behind his head, cushioning it. "Who's the dumb one here? You're the one who suddenly started talking about how I'm your most important person, which I still refuse to believe. I thought you liked Sakura. Unless," here, Sasuke starts smirking, "you're gay?" _

_Naruto starts spluttering and he flails wildly as he tries to explain himself. "I – Wha – No! I'm not gay! I like Sakura! You're so – Argh! What I meant wasn't that! I mean, I'm straight! I like hot chicks and boobs, not dicks!" _

_Sasuke arches an eyebrow. "How crude of you, Naruto."_

_Naruto calms down and crosses his arms, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke. "But really, though. I might like Sakura, but you're my best friend, ya know? I don't have parents, and I don't have siblings either. Everyone in this village hated me. You were the only one who accepted me. You were the first one to acknowledge me as someone of worth by accepting me as your rival. Well, except for Iruka, of course, but that's a completely different matter." _

_Sasuke's eyes are pensive and he carefully maintains that cool, composed mask of indifference. "I still think you're an idiot." _

_Naruto grins. "It'd be a problem if you didn't." His smile fades as he leans forward ever so slightly, face hovering just inches above Sasuke's. "But if anything were to happen to you, I'll do whatever I can to help. You know that, right? You just need to call out for me, and I swear, I'll come running." His blue eyes burn into Sasuke's dark ones, gaze intent and serious and penetrating. _

_Sasuke holds his gaze evenly, not blinking. And then his lips quirk into a small, barely noticeable smile. He sighs in pseudo annoyance. "What did I do to be punished by being stuck with an overly sentimental moron like you?" _

_Naruto pouts. "Hey! We were having a moment there!" _

"_What moment? Don't delude yourself, usuratonkatchi." He pushes Naruto away before getting up, brushing himself off. He shoves his hands into his pockets, walking off. Before he leaves the clearing, he pauses, saying, "I'd probably do the same too, dobe." _

_Naruto watches him leave as an impossibly wide smile stretches across his face._

Sasuke's hitai-ate is a token of the friendship they used to have – no, _still had_ – and good times spent in Konoha. It's a token of the bond Naruto has with Sasuke. It's a token of Sasuke's trust in Naruto.

"_Do you trust me?"_

"… _I don't want to."_

_Blue eyes are sharp and piercing. _

"_Ever since _him_, I didn't want to trust anybody. He murdered my – our – entire family."_

"_I'm not Itachi."_

"_I know that. That's why I…" He turns his head and a faint smile flits across his face, barely visible under the silver moonlight. "That's why I trust you."_

Sasuke is calling out to him, he knows. Sasuke never said anything, but he just knows, he _feels _it, deep in his bones. Sasuke is calling for his help, and Naruto'll be damned if he doesn't do anything about it, because it's Sasuke, the one he owes so much to, and no way in hell is he going to go back on his word when he's already promised Sasuke.

_A long, long time ago, a boy with blond hair sat on a swing under the shade of a tree, isolated and alone. Nobody loved him, he didn't have any family or friends, and those who knew his name detested him. _

_One day, he met a boy, with hair as dark as the night sky, eyes curiously savage, hatred filling his heart. He fought this boy, this boy who was so quietly excellent at everything he did, and he lost. He tasted defeat for the nth time, and he was angry and upset, yet awed. The boy became his aim, his goal, and he strived to be just like him, so that he could be considered his equal, someone of as much worth as him. _

_He was bitter, though, when they fought again after some months and he lost to the boy again, because what did he know? What would a boy like him, so loved and worshipped and adored, know about the pain he has endured for the past nine years of his life? _

_And then he hears the rumours of how his brother had heartlessly killed his family, rumours of how he, brother to the Uchiha prodigy turned mass murderer, was the only survivor. He begins to feel sympathy, and he understands the pain of loneliness, the pain of being abandoned by the ones you love and thought you knew. He knows and understands and watches the boy with eyes like the sky. _

_When he walks home, along the path next to the lake, he sees the boy sitting on the dock with his legs in the water, and he can't help but stop and stare, because never before has he seen someone look so lonely and pained. The boy turns his head and meets his eyes, and in that moment, they share a brief spark of understanding, and the boy gives him a small nod before turning back to gaze across the lake at the shore on the other end. _

_He feels happy, because he has just been acknowledged for the first time in his life. It ignites a fire in his heart, his soul, his very being, because he is like a starved old man being given food for the first time in ages. _

_It could have been him, but because of that boy, he was able to find light that chased away the shadows in his heart. _

_It was not the same for that boy, however, but he owed the boy, and the boy was the most important person to him, just as he had been so long ago, even when they barely knew each other, and he wanted to do the same thing for him, to pass the light on to him so that the shadows and the monsters and the demons that lived in his heart would go away. _

Naruto clenches his fist tightly around Sasuke's hitai-ate, and a fiercely determined grin surfaces, his bright blue eyes narrowed. He gets up and heads outside, the other's hitai-ate still in hand.

"I'll bring you back, teme. Just you wait."

**OHMYGOD I DID IT! :D **

**I am so ridiculously happy right now, you have no idea. I'm just so happy, because goddamn, I finally successfully wrote something that isn't crap, that's actually relatively **_**good**_**, and finished it! The first time in bloody ages! **

**I know it's not the best, and that it's actually kinda really ridiculous and cheesy and unrealistic, but I'm just so incredibly overwhelmed, I'm actually tearing up, my god. I'm so happy, I can't even. :DDD**

**It didn't even take that much time for me to finish this! I feel ridiculously pleased with myself, you have no idea. **

**Ridiculous happiness aside, I know that the format and structure can be more than a bit confusing, so if any of you have a problem with it, just drop me a review or PM and I'll fix it as soon as I can. **

**And no, this wasn't beta'd (though I have tried to proofread it), so I'd be really glad if you guys were to give some feedback, point out some errors, y'know, constructive criticism and stuff. **

**Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you think if you have the time to type a quick review. ;) **


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